Move Over Mahomes, There’s A New Hotness In Town
Joe Burrow is cool as shit.
I’ve already seen some blowback on the Joe Burrow hype train, but I don’t care. Joe Burrow rules. I love Joe Burrow. I will continue to love Joe Burrow until he wins a Super Bowl and then keeps going back to the playoffs year after year and I tire of his face. Right now? Joe Burrow kicks ass. Hype trains are annoying, but they aren’t really reasons to hate a player. That’s more of a media problem. Joe Burrow can’t help or stop being cool as shit, but Cris Collinsworth can certainly shut his yap more.
That’s probably the part of least excited for with this Super Bowl, but Collinsworth fangirling over his beloved Bengals and Joe Burrow is probably a more acceptable alternative to him just slobbering over Mahomes knob some more. Mahomes is now 5 years into his career and the praise, while still valid, is getting tired.
Yes, I saw the Brady retirement news, yes I saw the Brian Flores lawsuit, Yes I saw Josh McDaniels the Raider, and yes I just saw the Washington Commanders name got officially leaked a day early. Lotta shit to get through as well as the usual Puppy Comic. Gonna be a busy few weeks.
…but Cris Collinsworth can certainly shut his yap more.
Now here’s a guy who can say that again.
I’m certain that Collinsworth probably spent most of the early afternoon on Sunday weeping over the fact that he couldn’t call the AFC Championship.
lmfao that is so true brother
Hot take here. I genuinely prefer Collinsworth’s rambling to listening to Joe Buck just plainly describing exactly what you are watching with his bizarre, droning monotone.
Stafford Takes the Snap.
Drops Back.
Throws a screen.
The Ball is received by Akers at the line of scrimmage and he runs it for a gain of four.
The players come out of the huddle and move to the new line of scrimmage.
2nd and 6.
Buck reminds me of that scene in Major League 2, where Harry Doyle passes out drunk and leaves his inept sidekick to call the game and the first thing he does is call an amazing diving catch as “fly ball… caught”.
Ball is received? But every pass is a small usually collapsible bed often of fabric stretched on a frame.
The thing about Buck’s commentary is that it sounds fine when you’re primarily focused on the game and only half-listening, but when you actually listen to what he’s saying.. I don’t even know how to describe it. Just take this call for example (around 1 minute in) https://youtu.be/CzF3r8L4OM0:
“From the three. Brady throws. Pass caught. Evans. Touchdown.” Like he’s not even talking in complete sentences. Just saying individual words that reference what is happening on the field. I can live with the more calm, monotone call but I can’t wrap my mind around this.
He’s trying to do like an old school radio baseball call, but baseball has a lot less moving parts.
This is a perfect description holy shit lol. Thank you.
I’ll join you in that hot take. I’ll also take Collinsworth over not only Buck, but most of the C-team broadcasters on both CBS and FOX for the lower level matchups (though Aqib Talib has continued to be amusing and different).
Collinsworth and Buck have different jobs. Buck is play by play, he has to be drier. Collinsworth is color. Complaining about Joe Buck doing play by play is an odd comparison to make because that’s literally his job and not Collinsworths
The best broadcast team is the one on Nickelodeon, and I’m not making a joke.
They’re actually good.
Main reason: It’s 3 people.
I don’t know why we’re stuck with 2-man teams now, and a lame sideline reporter who doesn’t tell us anything.
Three people keep the conversations interesting because there are different dynamics between them, and one can shut up when the game warrants it. Al & Cris or TroyBuck are just those two. They constantly have to talk.
With the Nick crew and the old 3-man MNF crews if you have an interesting game the comedic presence can back off. With a dull game the color-analyst can back off.
The only 2-man teams that worked had Madden. He could seamlessly due great analysis or stupid comedy fill-in.
And even Madden got tiresome after awhile.
Completely agree. The Nick team is legit. Play by play guy is a pro. As for other current broadcasters I like Ian Eagle. I miss his matchup with Rich Gannon.
But Buck has a very distinct monotone even for a PBP–you hear Ian Eagle or Kevin Harlan doing the PBP, and they get EXCITED when something big happens.
Buck just drones……although even Joe Buck got loud when the Niners got that punt block TD lol.
Buck is a lot better now than he used to be. There was a time when he was absolutely dull, but he’s loosened up in the past decade and I don’t think a lot of the criticisms are as fair as they used to be.
I’ve made a simple drinking game for Buck’s play-by-play. Every time he says, “The pass is caught,” I take a swig. Every time Aikman drags out his “uhh”s, I take a swig. If Buck raises his voice, I take the whole shot.
I tell ya, it’s made his and Aikman’s broadcasts more enjoyable for me.
It’s a crime that Kevin Harlan isn’t at least the #2 PBP guy at CBS.
Kevin Harlan is my favorite broadcaster by far. Not only is he enthusiastic but he is legitimately funny.
It’s a crime that Kevin Harlan isn’t at least the #2 play-by-play guy at CBS.
I cannot help but love this comic. Just one of the best you’ve done in frickin ages.
Could even say it’s… *shades*… GR-R-R-R-R-R-EAT.
Oh you.
The last panel would make a GR-R-R-R-EAT! desktop background.
There is a whole goddamned movie (that rules, shut your fucking mouth) about a Washington football team, and they didn’t pick that name, smdh
I want the Sentinels dammit.
I’d wait on the McDaniels comic. He could get cold feet again haha
“Mahomes is now 5 years into his career and the praise, while still valid, is getting tired.”
This is what surprised me the most about championship weekend. People (not just Broncos, Chargers, and Raiders fans) are freaking sick of Big Red, Mahomes, and the Chiefs already. Mahomes has only started for four years. Historically front running posers would be easily drowning out hipster contrarians at this point. I guess it’s just that quick to go from new hotness to hated old guard in this day and age.
Chiefs would be more likeable if they didn’t seem to coddle every women beating scumbag they could get their hands on and enable bad people. (Except Kareem Hunt… for some reason)
It’s because he showed remorse and actually seems to be trying to be a better person. They don’t want anything to do with that.
Yea, as technology moves faster and faster, people’s attention spans and patience for this stuff gets shorter and shorter. I’m already burnt out on Joe Burrow. And it’s only been, what, three weeks since the playoffs started? LOL.
If I have to see any more “Joe Burrow is so f-ing cooool” takes. UGH. He looks like the long lost lovechild of Macauley Culkin and Troy Aikman. I have nothing against him, he seems like a fine kid, and none of this is directly his fault, but I’ve gone from looking forward to fresh blood in the Super Bowl to turning off sports media altogether at this point. I’m happy with either team winning, but I’m already tired of the talking points for both teams.
Probably has to do with their opponent. Nobody was tired of Mahomes when they played the Steelers. But against Josh Allen and Joe Burrow, Mahomes is already the senior established presence. Now that Brady and Ben are gone and Rodgers almost out, Mahomes is the vanguard of the new era
That’s just how sports fandom works now and it’s been that way since around 2010, I think? What’s currently happening with the Chiefs is almost exactly what happened to the Seahawks after 2013. They had just won *ONE* Super Bowl and quite literally just begun a run of great play the year prior and people were sick of them immediately.
Obviously the near-constant media coverage is the cause of this (I had to turn off ESPN and Fox Sports entirely from constant Mahomes vs Brady debates), but I also think the greater access to different teams across the league has has an effect as well. Since we can effectively watch and keep track of any team now, people prefer to see something new every year rather than the usual suspects, so any team that has the gall to stick around after a Super Bowl run instantly becomes public enemy number 1.
The Chiefs were pretty widely disliked after 2019, and the only reason people rooted for them in the Super Bowl the year after is because, exactly like the 2014 Seahawks, they happened to be playing some old fart that had won a bunch of Super Bowls beforehand, so people were a lot more sick of that guy.
Mahomes is tiresome because of the aptly named “Dynasty of One”.
For all that talent they haven’t done much. Sure they can win by 40, but they crumble against moderately good defense that takes away their primary strategy, no adjustment. They just arrogantly throw the ball into tight coverage. Reid never shifts, and Mahomes can’t make the throws.
Had the Bengals came out they way they did in the 2nd half I doubt the Chiefs would’ve scored 14.
In last years SB it was obvious that the running game was wide open. They just continued to let the Bucs swat down passes.
Then they have been the most coddled offense in history. Far worse than Brady/Pats ever were.
On their second TD a O-lineman ended up facing backwards, hitting a defender in the back, and tackling him from behind so he couldn’t sack Mahomes. Holding just isn’t a thing for the Chiefs.
“For all that talent they haven’t done much.”
They have their faults, but you don’t sound like you’re talking about a team w/ 4 AFC championship appearances, 2 SB appearances, and one SB win in 4 years. That’s a resume any team not led by Tom Brady would give up all of the next 2 years worth of draft picks for. Maybe TB12/The Patriots have clouded what you think teams should be able to do?
Of course they’ve been countered very effectively at times, it would be downright idiotic to think that won’t happen and that they won’t make mistakes. They’ll continue to have some triumphs and failures, just like any other team.
I’ve seen BionicJoe’s take around far too much over this past week and you nailed it. Feels like Brady has skewed how people judge success. Winning a super bowl is fucking hard. The Packers have a HoFer and they’ve choked away the decade. The Saints had a HoFer and choked away a decade. The Hawks, Broncos, 49ers…all these other squads. What Mahomes has done already is practically unprecedented but people are already calling it “not much”. How many teams would take “not much” right now?
I was saying more that they haven’t done much FOR ALL THE HYPE.
They’re still the dynasty of one.
They shouldn’t have lost to the Bucs last year, and shouldn’t have lost to the Bengals this year.
I’ll take dollars to donuts that his dreadful Statefarm ads aren’t helping. They make me hate him A. A. Ron and replacement Jake.
At the beginning of this post-season, my nightmare Super Bowl scenario was Packers vs. Chiefs. The onslaught of State Farm ads would’ve been brutal.
I think about 90% of sports fans felt that way. I sure did.
Whatever team at the ad agency that has held the State Farm account over the last half decade needs to be banned from the industry for life. The State Farm ads are horrendous, and what’s worse is that the New Jake/Mahomes/Rodgers ones are probably an improvement over the initial douchy sports agent ones (though both share the same asinine concept of “people have no idea of what insurance is or how it works”).
A mix of ad over exposure and a lack of comedic chops is always going to be a recipe to turn anyone neutral against a star.
I wouldn’t care that much if it wasn’t included in every single commercial break. These kinds of ads do the opposite of what they intended in my opinion
Just noticed this – Tony the Tiger’s nose is Frosted Flakes Blue, but Jeaux the Tiger’s nose is LSU Purple. Very nice touch.
Im glad somebody noticed that I did that
Commanders is an awful name. It is being reported that it is the name Synder wanted all along and the whole process of finding a new name was fraudulent.
The should have gone bold and named themselves the Hogs. The new unis suck too.
It’s like they took the best option (Admirals) and downgraded it.
But the best option is clearly the Washington Corruption.
we’re a team! a team of… COMMANDERS!
SO DUMB
THE UNIS SUCKS TOO.
one of ’em just straight up uses the steeler’s colors.
The Washington Commies*
I’m calling them WTF until the day I die, and noooobody gonna make me do otherwise. =D
Someone elsewhere pointed out that it can be the Washington ‘Ders. Which is a pretty apt description for that franchise.
The Washing ten-dies?
Burrow has joined Wilson and Eli as the QBs to make it to the Superbowl without an Oline. Hopefully he’ll win it as well, but I’m legitimately worried for his health with Aaron Donald on the other side.
if la wins, then there’s a good chance it’s because AD is SB MVP.
I know this comic isn’t about Mahomes, but I think it’s a little unfair for Herbert to have a gravestone here, as if Mahomes owns him. Herbert is 2-2 against the Chiefs since becoming a starter. One of those losses was when he found out he was starting about 15 minutes before the game. Both of those losses required overtime for the Chiefs to win.
To be fair, Mahomes is 2-1 against Herbert, as he didn’t play in one of the aforementioned games due to being rested for the playoffs.
Also Dave, here’s your very late pool update. My wife went into labour just moments after Chargers/Raiders ended, so I’ve been busy lately. In the final week of the season, you put up a 9, good for middle of the pack. The weekly winner had a 12. Overall, you finished with 169**, good for a tie from 8th-9th. The winner of the pool ended with a 179, which interestingly was decided by the Chargers/Raiders game when myself and a Raiders fan were tied at the top going into Sunday night. You also earned the distinction of being the highest finisher who didn’t claim any prize money.
I also just wanted to mention Burrow is 0-2 against the Chargers so far, and Herbert is 1-0 against the Bengals. The one game that Herbert didn’t start was the one game that Tyrod Taylor got the start before getting his lung punctured.
I could see Herbert, Burrow, Mahomes, and even Josh Allen dueling for the AFC crown for years to come.
Herbert needs to make the playoffs before putting him in the same conversation as Burrow, Allen, Mahomes
Agreed. Of course, being stuck with the Chargers, I think he’ll be destined to be this class’ Philip Rivers.
That “honor” could still go to Tua. He, like Rivers, was the 2nd QB off the board, and hasn’t made the playoffs yet either.
Tua can be Chad Pennington unless his hip can continue getting better and he regains some of his college arm strength. Otherwise his ceiling will be Chad Pennington. Or maybe he’ll be Drew Brees in that he’ll go to another team and do better there. That sounds like the Dolphins thing to happen.
Really? Do we really have to include a “team” accomplishment like making the playoffs when we’re comparing individual QB capabilities?
I don’t know how you can watch Herbert play and not think that he’s on the same level as Burrow, Allen, or Mahomes.
Brandon Staley took over a defense that was littered with players that don’t fit his scheme, and it will take more than one off-season for him to rebuild it the way he wants it. But to suggest Herbert isn’t good enough to be considered playoff caliber is ridiculous.
I didn’t say playoff caliber. You said AFC crown so I thought you were talking AFC Championship contender. You can’t put a guy who’s never even made the playoffs in AFC Championship contender status. And for all that everyone is railing against wins being a QB stat, that’s what everyone still judges QBs on. That’s why despite contrarians saying otherwise, nobody will ever seriously consider someone else besides Brady for GOAT status unless someone else comes close to his level of winning
Congrats on the offspring, hopefully all turned out well.
Can we have that put on Dave’s tombstone when he dies?
“The Highest Finisher Who Didn’t Claim Any Prize Money.” LOLOL
Thanks, Big Bluberries! We’re all healthy and well, just a little sleep deprived!
yeah, congrats man! research shows you will be sleep deprived until they hit 7 or so.
enjoy!
Highest finisher who didn’t win money sounds about right to me
funny to think that if I followed the Raiders coin I might have ended up much higher
I don’t know if you knew this, Dave, but it wasn’t actually a “coin”, per se. The guy who did that used a “weighted coin” – some sort of random number generator that was weighted against the odds of the Raiders actually winning those games individually.
It’s probably fair to say that actual pool participants are a little more likely to take chances with their picks, because whenever you pick all the favourites, you assume that you might do well but you probably won’t win a week that way. People tend to make sure they have at least one or two upsets called for this reason.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun doing it though. Thanks for letting me use your picks!
It would be hilarious if Kermit Mahomes flipped a coin before slashing Allen
That hurts, but it’s also funny!
For 75% of my life the Bengals were the only thing that made me sad.
Now they are about the only thing making me happy.
Weird.
Are the Bengals just grateful to be in the Super Bowl? Or will they somehow become even more pessimistic if they lose in some tragic horrible way?
I get not drawing a Jones stone, but why a Tua one then? He’s definitely worse.
Worth mentioning that the last game of Andrew Luck’s career was a loss to the Chiefs in the playoffs.